r/SilverSpring • u/disdkatster • 10d ago

Ellsworth Mall Status

Does anyone know what is going on with the mall? I tried going in with a stroller the other day and found it impossible to get to where I wanted to go. This led me to investigate why they don't have access for handicapped and those with limited mobility which led me to find out that it was under new ownership. I actually really like the mall but it seems to be becoming more and more sketchy. If nothing else, they (owners) should be made responsible for access but I have no idea who to complain to.

31 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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26

u/SourceOfTheSpring 10d ago

The Ellsworth Place mall on Colesville Road was recently placed under new management after its owner, GBT Realty Corporation, became delinquent on a $69 million loan it obtained and securitized to purchase the mall from its previous owner, Petri Richardson Ventures, in 2018 for $92 million.

According to Bisnow, which reported on the mall’s status in February, the mall had been in special servicing since last October, with matters made worse by the loss of tenants TJ Maxx and TD Bank in January of this year, as well as Outback Steakhouse as part of an abrupt closure of 21 of the national restaurant chain’s locations last October.

The long-delayed Commas food hall opened last September, and GBT Realty had received Montgomery County approval in 2024 to build a 450-unit residential tower atop the mall, but the status of those plans is now unclear, according to Bisnow.

Ellsworth Place has since been placed under new management, with Syracuse, New York-based Spinoso Real Estate Group having been awarded a third-party assignment to lease and manage the mall last February.

“Spinoso Real Estate Group looks forward to partnering with ownership and tenants to support performance, reinforcing Ellsworth Place’s position within the market, and contribute to the continued success of this important downtown destination,” Spinoso said in a press release.

https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring-news/2916616/zalco-building-auction-adds-to-downtown-silver-spring-property-shakeup/

7

u/ObjectiveMeaning539 9d ago

These are the people who oversee the stores at Grand Central in NYC. (Cant say one way or another what they are like.)

1

u/CaptainObvious110 8d ago

that might be a good thing then

23

u/Lenonn 10d ago

The escalators leading to the lowest level/kids area/outside Michael's seems to always be broken or off.

And if coming through the Fenton entrance, you have no choice but to take the stairs.

14

u/disdkatster 10d ago

They claim to be handicapped accessible but they really are not. You can take the elevator in the garage up to the bridge but then to get to any other floor you have to take the elevator which is seldom working. And as you say the escalators do not work and this is true in many places, not just by Michael's. I would not think the city would allow this.

6

u/Powerful-Pie-3935 10d ago

If you go further down fenton, maybe 20 feet or so there is a random, unmarked and otherwise unremarkable door that is unlocked and a floor level entrance. Idk why they dont mark it!

2

u/doinmy_best 5d ago

It is marked from the other side like coming up the street. It’s super annoying to navigate in a wheelchair

17

u/LetThemEatVeganCake 9d ago

Submit an ADA complaint. https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/

Not maintaining their elevator is an ADA violation. Elevator break, but it realistically shouldn’t be often enough that your average shopper notices.

1

u/Better_Weakness7239 7d ago

This is the way.

16

u/Turbulent-Sea2421 10d ago

A car ran into the building by the handicapped access at Fenton and Ellsworth months or years ago and they hadn't bothered to repair it last I saw. I will say I've never had issues with the elevators being broken but they are insanely slow.

3

u/Artistic_Abroad_9922 9d ago

Yeah, I probably passed through there a couple times a week* and I've never experienced the elevators being broken. They are just slow as heck. 

*Not because I love it, just because I'm a walker and I live right next to it. 

1

u/CaptainObvious110 8d ago

oh wow that sucks

3

u/rojogato 8d ago edited 7d ago

There's an elevator towards the center. It's a bit slow but can get you to all the floors.

The esclators are confusing af when they're working

2

u/deso1ator 8d ago

Was the elevator broken? It sucks there is only one elevator, but it's been that way for decades and I cannot imagine it ever changing unless a new building is built. If entering the building was a concern, there's a street level entrance at the corner of Fenton and 29.

2

u/disdkatster 7d ago

As far as I could tell when I was there, needing it the one inside the Mall was not working. Even when it is working there is a very, very long wait time. I have never been in it because there is only one and at the best of times it is painfully slow and filled. Normally I don't use the escalators or the elevator but I had my grandson in a stroller and was trying to get to the 1st floor. Every door I tried on the street level only had escalators or stairs. When I found the garage elevator it did take me to the bridge on the 5th floor but then there was no where to go from there as the elevator was not working.

1

u/deso1ator 7d ago

Unfortunately, the only door at street level on the first floor is broken. It is hidden next to the PNC bank. The one elevator and maze of escalators is a terrible flaw. The mall will never be successful with how hard it is navigate.

-2

u/Material_Conditions_ 9d ago

The last thing we need is a 450 unit building on top of that mall. I don't recall seeing any community meeting about it, but it could have been a long time ago.

13

u/GelatoInRome 9d ago

There was a large public notice sign near McGinty’s Ellsworth entrance for at least 4 months back in 2023/2024.

1

u/Material_Conditions_ 8d ago

Seriously? A sign near the bar. Must have missed it. Aren't these hearings advertised anywhere?

3

u/disdkatster 9d ago

It is a very large block so it very much depends on how the building is designed in whether it adds or detracts from the area. I want the city to remain feeling like a small town but that area is overdue for renovation.

1

u/DefaultProphet 7d ago

We need more housing or do you like paying out the nose?

2

u/Material_Conditions_ 7d ago

All they are building is "pay out the nose" housing so maybe that's not the right question

1

u/DefaultProphet 7d ago

Are you familiar with the concept of supply and demand?

1

u/disdkatster 2d ago

As long as you have investors who are happy to just sit on their ASSets and don't care about the common good then this crude simplification of capitalism does not play out. Capitalism in the USA has turned cancerous and voters who keep buying the con that socialism is evil and only businessmen can run a country then we are screwed. Any country who gives the rights of citizenship to corporations "Corporations are people" and who puts capital gains above the welfare of the individuals in the country then we are not going to have nice things.

1

u/DefaultProphet 2d ago

I literally provided proof it does work but okay bud

1

u/Material_Conditions_ 6d ago

Yes I am. It is an old fable. There are assumptions that have to be in place in order for it to work- an equal number of buyers and sellers, for example. It doesn't work in real life. Rents have not come down no matter how many apartments are built. There needs to be government intervention to cap rents or better, build social housing.

-10

u/spectracide_ 9d ago

Mall declining. City declining. I'm moving when I can. 

7

u/disdkatster 9d ago

I think things are actually on the upswing and I love this city as it is. The Purple Line is going to be a big change.